* Tom Schuba at NBC 5…

According to a new poll conducted by Southern Illinois University’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, 47 percent of registered Illinois voters want to leave the state.

In comparison, 51 percent of the poll’s respondents said they’d prefer to remain in the state, while 2 percent remained undecided. According to the poll, 20 percent of respondents said it was likely, somewhat likely or likely that they’d leave the state in the coming year. Nearly 80 percent said it was unlikely.

Respondents cited the state’s taxes, weather, government and jobs as the main reasons for wanting to leave the state. According to the poll, 27 percent cited taxes, 16 percent blamed the weather, 15 percent cited government and 13 percent pointed to jobs and education.

“There are lots of reasons why people want to leave, David Yepsen, director of the institute, said in a statement. “Not much can be done about the weather but policy makers can do something about perceptions of the quality of services, tax competitiveness, tax fairness and educational and job opportunities.”

* From the Institute…

The poll also showed 20 percent said it was extremely likely, somewhat likely or likely they would leave the state in the coming year. Nearly 80 percent said it was unlikely.

Well, hey, only a fifth of the population say they’re likely to be leaving soon. What a relief. /snark

* More…

People under 50 are much more likely to want to leave than the rest of the population. Fifty- seven percent of millennials (under 35) want to leave the state while 58 percent of those between 35 and 50 want to leave. Only 29 percent of adults over age 66 want to leave Illinois.

“Policy-makers argue over whether people are leaving or not,” Yepsen said. “The most troubling finding in this poll is that so many younger people are thinking about it. That’s the state’s future.”

The measurements are one indication of how unhappy many people are with the state. The poll also found a staggering 84 percent of Illinois voters said the state was headed in the wrong direction while only 10 percent said it was on the right track. […]

The poll mirrors what the Gallup Poll found three years ago. Then 50 percent of Illinois residents said they would leave the state if they could. No other state ranked higher for would-be departures. Gallup also found in 2013 that 19 percent of residents said they were extremely, very or somewhat likely to move in the coming year.

* Oof…

* And somehow, some way, this horrific trendline has to be altered. If this was a person, we’d do an intervention…

Crosstabs are here.